Maternity Leave in India: Do Companies Offer More Than the 12-Week Standard?

Hi,

We are in the process of updating our Employee Handbook. We are a UK-based company and follow most of the policies and practices of the UK. The present debate we were having is on Maternity Benefit.

In the UK, they have a maternity benefit for 52 weeks(!). 25 of these weeks are fully paid leaves, and others have partial payment. As per Indian standards, we need to pay only 12 weeks of Maternity Benefit to female employees. Do most companies have just 12 weeks of Maternity Benefit, or do they extend this beyond 12 weeks and provide longer leaves to employees? Please help me with your experiences.

I would also like to understand what the practice is in the BPO industry as well.

Thank you.

Best Regards,
Sonia

Sonia,

Yes, the maternity benefit can be extended beyond 12 weeks. 12 weeks is the minimum required by law, but the company can decide on the timelines. My company offers 19 weeks of paid maternity leave. Let me know if you need more information on this.

Regards,
Parthiv

Hi,

Does anyone else have a longer maternity leave period in their company in addition to the statutory requirement? Please state the type of industry you belong to as well.

Thanking you in anticipation.

Best Regards,
Sonia